


The God Capturer

by jostin_trinidad



Series: The Mortal God [1]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan, The Trials of Apollo - Rick Riordan
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-01-18
Updated: 2021-02-13
Packaged: 2021-03-17 17:47:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,359
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28729131
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jostin_trinidad/pseuds/jostin_trinidad
Summary: A year after the Heroes of Olympus defeated Gaia, a new threat has seemingly arisen. However, a new hero has come to meet it. This hero, however, is different from the rest even from the other demigods! Will they be able to make a name for themselves, especially when they share parents with some of the best demigods around?
Series: The Mortal God [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106090





	1. I get Attacked and It wasn't on Twitter

School was out and life was sweet. I had just graduated and was spending some time in my family's Manhattan townhome, while my parents and I decided where we wanted to go as a graduation trip. I sat down at our rooftop table and opened a travel book about the Philippines. My friend, Melody, had recommended the country as said that we could stay with her grandparents in Quezon City if we wanted to make our graduation trips coincide. My nose was deep in the book and I couldn't think of any place that could be as much fun. Though I was concentrated, I couldn't help but notice a glow radiating from above me. I looked up, seeing two symbols: a green trident and an owl. 

"What the hell is this?" I said, seeing nothing around me that could be casting the symbols.

"So I was thinking that we could go to—" my mom started. "Okay, we need to leave." I looked at her, bewildered. My mother was a calm woman, who rarely made decisions on a whim, so this proclamation was very uncharacteristic.

"Where are we going?" I said, my mother grabbing my arm.

"I will take you somewhere where you will be safe," she replied. "Get changed and grab your things. We have to get moving."

"What are you talking about?" I asked. "We just got here."

"We have to head back to Long Island," she replied.

"Why are we going back to the house?"

"Just get your things and meet me in the car," my mother insisted. "I'll get your dad." Without giving me time to keep questioning her, she ran through the building, looking for my dad and our car's keys. I ran to the kitchen, grabbing my phone and backpack, and then running out the front door. I opened the door and got into the back, looking at my parents in the front seats.

"What is going on?" I asked. "What are these symbols and why are they making both of you so anxious."

"The gods of Ancient Greece are claiming you," my mom revealed. "You are the only child of both Poseidon and Athena." I knew my Greek mythology and thus knew that those two gods hated each other with a passion.

"That's a funny story," I replied. "But even if that was true, those two hate each other and would never have a child."

"Let your mother finish the story," my dad said, concentrating on the traffic.

"Though many of the stories of Poseidon and Athena portray them in that light, their relationships seem to be one of enemies to lovers. Their mutual hatred of each other only made their passions stronger. That passion results in you."

"What do you mean resulting in me?" I said, starting to get annoyed with my mother's seeming rambling. "Last time that I checked you two were my parents."

"No," my mom replied. "Your  _ real _ parents are Poseidon and Athena, however, you are not a god, as your parentage would lead you to believe. After your birth, you were brought to Zeus. Upon Poseidon and Athena's request, you were implanted into a normal human life, our life. We, our family, and friends were given memories of your birth. Later, your dad and I were brought to Mount Olympus and told this story. We were ordered to keep this secret from you until you were claimed by your godly parents. They gave us further instructions on what to do when you were claimed and told us where to bring you, assuring us that you would be safe there."

"So why did they give me up?" I asked, playing along with my mother's crazy story.

"The gods can see everything," my dad replied. "They are omnipotent. So when they saw how hard your mom and I were trying for a child, they felt bad, though at that point there was nothing they could do. After months of trying, you came about. We didn't know it at the time, obviously, but it was a gift from the gods. Poseidon and Athena had you implanted into your mother's womb so that we could have a child."

"Aww that's cute," I replied. "So why are they claiming me? Is there something that I have to do or will the symbols like go away and we can go back to normal?"

"The gods said that they would let you live a normal human life," my mom replied. "They would even mask your presence so that monsters wouldn't be drawn to you."

"Well that didn't work," I said, cutting my mom off. "Did you see my last boyfriend?" They chuckled, but soon went back to being serious.

"No, seriously," my mom continued. "They said that they would only claim you if they saw an opportunity to prove yourself to the world!" I looked between my parents, my eyes wide with skepticism, and shook my head. They had to be on something because there was no way that they were serious about this story. However, I did want to know what they had taken and where they had gotten it because it was doing wonders.

I could tell that we were heading back to Long Island, but I still had no idea why. My parents were talking in the front, mumbling amongst themselves. I couldn't make out what they were saying, though I really wasn't putting in any effort with my headphones on. As we drove I drifted in and out of focus, finding myself zoned out just looking at the passing scenery.

"Get ready," my mom said. "We're almost here."

"Almost where?" I asked. "We're literally in like the middle of nowhere."

"You just have to get out and—" My mom was cut off by a sudden impact to our car. We flipped, tumbling down the empty road, seemingly hitting nothing.

**Ψ**

I woke up from the crash, seeing the front half of our car further down the street. I slid out of the car, cutting myself on the broken glass and debris. I could barely focus on my surroundings, but I powered through it rushing towards the front half of our car. My parents were gone, with seemingly no signs of movement.

"Josh," I heard through the ringing. The voice was unfamiliar but motherly. "Run!" I didn't know who was talking, but something had just torn my car apart and I decided that this voice was seemingly safer than whatever did that. I ran into the brush surrounding the street. I looked around for my parents or any sign of what could've destroyed our car.

"Josh," I heard, turning around to see my parents. I hugged them. They were bloodied, but seemingly alright.

"What happened?" I asked, coming out of my stupor.

"That," my dad said, pointing. I followed his finger, finding myself looking directly at a giant lion. But something about it was different. The lion's tail was that of a scorpion.

"A manticore," I said, shocked. Maybe my parents weren't on acid when they were saying that the Greek gods were real.

"The destruction of the car shocked its senses," my dad continued. "But it will probably start to regain its killer instincts any time now."

"Then we should get going," I replied. "Where is this place?"

"Not too far," my mom said. "But we have to hurry." We started running, though I could tell that my parents were hurting. I slowed down, trying to help them, though they shooed my assistance.

"The entrance is right up there," my mom said, pointing past some of the trees. "Go and get help."

"What about you two?" I asked. "I can't just leave you both out here with that monster."

"We won't be able to get into the camp," my dad revealed. "The border doesn't let mortals past it."

"What are you two going to do?" I asked. I knew that they couldn't just stay roaming these woods and they couldn't go back to our house, especially with their car being totaled.

"We can find a way to get to the house," my mom replied. "It shouldn't be too far."

"No," I replied. "I'll get help and get you two home, just wait here." I gave them both a hug and headed towards the camp's borders.

I walked through the entrance, finding myself near what appeared to be strawberry fields. On my left, I could see an archery range and in the distance on my right, I could see a sky-blue house. I ducked trying to hide from any eyes that could be out during this time, though it was the middle of the day so I assumed that everyone was eating lunch somewhere. I moved through the camp, making my way to what was just a metal shed. I looked around, checking my surroundings before opening the door. I looked inside the building, seeing a plethora of weapons. I quickly moved inside, shutting the door behind me.

The place was dark, with only a few light bulbs around each weapon station. While I couldn't see much, I felt something pulling me towards it. Amongst the plethora of swords and knives, I found my weapon: a bow and arrow set. I had taken many archery lessons, so the bow's nature was something I was very familiar with. The bow wasn't made of wood like the others, but out of metal. It was a jet black Hoyt Recurve. It was a design that I was familiar with, though I was confused as to how such a modern design had found its way into a collection of bows like this. I picked up the bow and slung it over my shoulder. I grabbed what I assumed was the accompanying sheath of arrows. I quickly moved out of the armory and headed back towards where I had entered. 

I thought back to all my time in archery classes. Over the years, I had culled my attendance to only twice a week, as at the time I didn't see as much of a need for them. Now how I wished that I had kept practicing as much as I did for dance or swim. Archery was part of the regiment of extracurricular activities that my parents subjected me to. Dance, archery, swimming, martial arts, and gymnastics were all activities that I grew up with and mastered. I was constantly going from practice to practice, lesson to lesson, honing my skills in these fields to become a more accomplished person. It was exhausting, though my parents had the right idea as it gave me many things to put on a college application and rewarded me with acceptance letters to USC, NYU, Northwestern, and many more. The least that I could do in return was protect them from that Manticore and get them home safely. I moved out of the armory and out past the camp's borders.

I made my way back to where I had left my parents, though they were nowhere to be found. I could tell that the manticore had tracked them as there were still tracks in the ground. I traced the shoe prints back to the road, where they stopped, the concrete road, holding no impressions. I stayed back, using the brush to hide, looking out for any sign of the monster. For a few minutes, there was nothing, no signs of any movement or creature at all. A spine shot out of the forest, heading directly towards me. The manticore had revealed its location, but since it seemed to have its projectiles a long-distance fight wasn't going to be the blow out I thought it was going to be. I leaped out of the way, the spine crashing into the plethora of foliage surrounding me. I nocked an arrow, aiming at the origin of the spine, and fired. The arrow flew across the road and disappeared into the trees. It was slightly off where I wanted to shoot it, but I attributed that to the new bow and my lack of consistent practice. I nocked another bronze arrow, sending it flying into the treeline. Another spine shot towards me though from a completely different location. The manticore was moving fast and with the forest covering it, I wouldn't be able to get a clear shot on it. I moved out of the spine's way, shooting another arrow as I landed. I fired a flurry of shots into the trees, each arrow on a different trajectory, just hoping that one would connect. I listened for any signs of the manticore … nothing. No signs of the creature being hurt and thus no signs that my arrows had connected.

"You're very skilled," I heard from across the road. The manticore moved into plain view, saying, "I can see why he wants you dead."

"Who wants me dead?" I asked him, an arrow aimed straight at its face.

"Charge!" I heard behind me as a wave of kids all clad in orange t-shirts rushed straight for the manticore.

"Are you alright?" a girl said, grabbing my shoulder. She was at most a year younger than me with auburn hair, tied in a short ponytail barely reaching the nape of her neck. I shook my head, looking back at the manticore. It was surrounded by these kids, each had a weapon aimed at the creature.

"I think it took my parents," I said, aiming my arrow.

"After we take it down," she said. "We will start looking through the forest." The manticore leaped into the air, swinging its tail downwards and sending spines flying. I followed the manticore's path and fired my arrow. It hit the monster, but the creature showed no sign of feeling it. It landed perfectly on a treetop, poised for another attack. The creature snarled and leaped further into the disappearing from view. 

The girl called the kids together, checking on the ones who were closest to the manticore. None of them had sustained major injuries, a few scratches from dodging the spines, but nothing that would last.

"Who are you all?" I asked, still trying to wrap my head around their sudden appearance.

"We are Camp Half-Blood," a voice said, appearing from the trees. He was a centaur, his lower half that of a white stallion.

"You're all members of the place my parents were bringing me," I realized. I looked around. These kids, who I assumed were like me, were all trained or training to be warriors. The girl from before approached me and the centaur.

"We found your parents," she replied, moving aside. Two kids were helping my parents walk. They were the same as I had left them, though with some added scratches and cuts.

"They were each hit by the manticore," she revealed. "Though it doesn't seem like it was aiming to kill them. Some of the Apollo kids treated the poison so they should be good." She turned to the centaur and nodded towards the bow in my hands.

"The  _ Anagennisi _ ," he said. I looked at the weapon, an engraving appearing on the handle. It was in Ancient Greek, but somehow I could still read it.

"The Rebirth?" I said confused. "What does that mean?"

"That bow was crafted from the ashes of a phoenix," the centaur revealed. "Any damage that it may sustain is repaired and thus can never break. Even the bowstring is laced with the ashes of the phoenix. It hasn't been used in ages." I looked up at him, confused.

"If it's unbreakable, why hasn't it been used?" I asked. It only made sense, any archer would want to wield it.

"The  _ Anagennisi _ has never revealed itself to anyone for the longest time," the girl said. "Do you think this means something Chiron?"

"Chiron?!" I asked, shocked. "The legendary teacher? That's you?!"

"Yes," the centaur replied. "We have to get back behind the camp's borders. There are too many half-bloods out here, monsters will start to head our way."—he turned to the girl—"Kiera, welcome his parents so they can get past the border and bring them to the Big House." I stood up and walked with the campers, following them back into the camp. I kept pace with Kiera as she was the only one in the crowd that I knew, even though it was barely. Many of the campers headed towards the armory, which Kiera informed me was the building that I retrieved Rebirth from, while she, my parents, and I headed towards the sky-blue house.


	2. I Guess Everything I Knew was a Lie

"So you are Josh Phillips," Chiron said, pulling a folder from a stack. He raised his hand above the latch, a symbol shining above the folder and seemingly "unlocking".

"How do you know who I am?" I asked, genuinely concerned and worried.

"Chiron was told of your existence," my mom replied. "In case you were claimed, he would know what to do when you showed up to the camp." Chiron rifled through the papers in the folder.

"By technicality, you are both a god and a mortal," he said, pointing to a line on the paper. "You were born of two gods: Poseidon and Athena, but given to the mortal life." Kiera looked at me shocked.

"How can that be possible?" she asked.

"Well," Chiron replied. "Zeus has the power to turn gods mortal, Lester Papadopoulos was a perfect example of that. When Apollo was made a mortal as Lester, he lost all of his godly abilities. However, you seem to bear some resemblance to most demigods. Were you diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia?"

"Nope," I replied. "Why are they like a requirement?"

"Well yes," Chiron said. "The mixing of the Ancient Greek nature of a demigod's godly parent and their mortal parent's DNA creates a disparity that leaves them wired for battle and for reading Ancient Greek. They are commonly diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. However, if you weren't diagnosed with either, it may be because you're just a god in a mortal body."

"So how was he able to get past the camp's borders?" Kiera asked.

"It's probably because the camp's protections recognized both a mortal and godly aspect to you and thus classified you as a demigod."

"So what does this mean?" I asked.

"It means that you will train here," Chiron replied. "You will learn to wield weapons. Well, even better than you do already, and learn more about Ancient Greek culture. The camp's borders will also protect you from monsters."

"Will I be able to see my parents again?" I asked, worried that this was going to be the last time I ever saw them.

"Oh yes of course," Chiron replied. "We are technically a summer camp, so most campers just stay here during those times. But many often stay year-round as their scent is stronger."

"I'm heading off to college in the fall," I revealed. "Does this mean that I have to drop out or something?"

"Where are you going?" Chiron inquired. "Somewhere here in New York?"

"Yes," I replied. "NYU." I had almost gone to a school across the country. I had gotten accepted to USC, but I couldn't choose between focusing on dance or swim and that was the real factor. While I got approached by both USC and Northwestern for swim team opportunities, neither focused on my dance strong suit: contemporary, or in Northwestern case they didn't have much dance experience. However, NYU, while being a Division III school for swim, had an amazing dance program that did focus on contemporary dance. So after I had weighed them against each other, I eventually signed to NYU for both swim and dance.

"Perfect," he replied. "Then you won't be too far away should something big happen and the camp needs to rescue you." We all chuckled a little bit. Chiron moved to a video player, fiddling with it a little before turning it on.

"Watch the orientation film," he said, moving aside. He pulled my parents aside, talking to them more, though I couldn't make out what they were saying. After the film finished, Chiron printed out a sheet of paper, telling me that it was my schedule for the rest of my time at the camp. It wasn't like anything like the schedule I was planning on taking at NYU, but I could see some time slots that would be far more exciting than others.

"You can decide which cabin you would like to live in," Chiron said. He moved from behind his desk and motioned for us to follow him.

"Let's show you around the grounds so that you aren't completely lost." We left the Big House and moved throughout the camp. Chiron showed us the strawberry fields, which he said supported the camp financially. He brought us to the camp forge, where I saw a bunch of kids working on weapons.

"Most of them are children of Hephaestus," Chiron revealed. "They are always here working on crafting weapons for the camp, though you can create your weapons here as well." We moved past the armory, which Chiron felt I had explored well enough. We found the centaur bringing us to a ring of cabins.

"These are the cabins that the campers can inhabit," Chiron said. "Each of the twelve major gods has a cabin, along with eight of the minor gods. The Poseidon cabin is right over there." He pointed to a long, low cabin with rough gray stone walls. Pieces of seashells and coral were embedded in the structure giving it a very oceanic feel. I opened the door, seeing the inside empty, just six empty bunks. There were a few hanging decorations from the ceiling and a few plants sitting on the window sill. The walls emitted a slight iridescent glow that might have irritated some, but to me seemed so tranquil.

"This would be the place to be if you wanted some peace and quiet for the night," Chiron said. "But I have a feeling that you may like your mother's cabin more." We left Poseidon's cabin and headed towards a gray building with an owl carved over the doorway.

"This is the Athena cabin," Chiron said, holding back the curtain so we could head inside. The cabin was obviously very different from Poseidon's. The library and workshop seemed to be the main pieces of the cabin's interior. All of the bunks had been pushed to the sidewall, allowing for the work to take precedent. The library was massive, with books and scrolls everywhere. I noted some SMART boards on the walls, near the workbenches and tables. It definitely felt more lively and communal, but I didn't know if that atmosphere was something that I wanted to be around 24/7.

"This cabin is obviously busier," Chiron noted. "But if you need to stretch your mind or put in a late-night, this cabin is the perfect place." We moved out of the ring of cabins and into a place full of tables framed by Greek columns. I could see Long Island Sound perfectly from here.

"This is the dining pavilion," Chiron said. "We eat here. You actually snuck into the camp when we were all here eating. Each table is assigned to one of the gods. You sit with your siblings or all by yourself if you solely inhabit your cabin. At each meal, you give a portion of it to the fire as a tribute to the gods." I nodded.

"I forgot to mention this when we were discussing your cabin choice," Chiron added. "But you are free to be with either Poseidon or Athena. You can move between the cabins, keep a few things at Poseidon's and a few things at Athena's, etc. You're the child of both, so you don't have to choose one or the other." I nodded, still trying to process everything that was going on. We left the dining pavilion and moved to some large rock walls.

"This is the climbing wall," Chiron said. "Be wary of the lava and falling rocks; they are both very much real. We often subject campers to this as it helps them work on their endurance, speed, and efficiency. The walls will slam together and tear most anything between them to shreds." I gulped. It didn't look like it, but I was the biggest baby when it came to heights. Whenever I was on something that I felt could break under me, I could feel myself going weak.

"Do we climb it often?" I asked, trying to hide my discomfort.

"You can choose how often you climb it," Chiron replied. "But I recommend that you climb it more often than not as it is great training for quests, where you might be fighting on different terrain or at a geographic disadvantage. It is also a great way to hone your skills and keep you sharp on your toes." I nodded again, trying to slow my breathing. We moved to the Arts & Crafts Center, where Chiron said many of the Athena children worked on fine arts like weaving, painting, and sculpting. I didn't think that I would spend too much time there as while I did love to paint and draw, I wasn't the best artist and felt that my mother's martial side had more influence on me. We found our way to what looked like a normal hill.

"This is Half-Blood Hill," Chiron said. He pointed to a tree, with a dragon that I had somehow missed guarding its base. "That is Thalia's tree and it's guarded by Peleus."

"Thalia's tree?" I asked. "I don't recognize that name."

"She wasn't an ancient hero. No, she was a demigod daughter of Zeus. She gave her life protecting this camp and in her final moments, her father turned her into a tree to save her. That tree strengthens the camp's borders preventing most any monsters from entering."

"That's so sad," my mom said. "I'm sorry for your loss, Chiron."

"What?" he asked, soon realizing. "Oh no! Thalia is alive and well now. She was freed from the tree after Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, and Tyson the Cyclops used the Golden Fleece to heal it after it had been poisoned by a servant of Kronos."

"A servant of Kronos?" I asked. "He was the father of the gods, right?"

"Yes," Chiron replied. "Around four years ago, he was resurrected from Tartarus and attacked Olympus. He wreaked havoc, releasing Typhon and pushing our forces to the brink."

"Wait, when did this happen?"

"It was the summer we went to Greece," my mom replied. "Remember when we spent nearly the entire month of August in Greece because of the freak storm that was tearing its way across the US from Washington? And how it wasn't deemed safe to travel back to the States as the storm seemed to be on a path to New York? That was Typhon."

"How did you know?" I asked my parents.

"Chiron kept us updated on what was going on in the demigod world," my dad revealed. "So that we could keep you away from it. Keep you hidden for as long as possible."

"Remember how the top of the Empire State Building turned blue?" my mom asked. "That was the work of the gods."

"That was after the Battle of Manhattan," Chiron revealed. "Kronos tried to detach Mount Olympus from the Empire State Building so that the gods would fade, but he was stopped by Percy Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Thalia Grace, and Ethan Nakamura."

"There was so much happening before my eyes," I said. "What else could I have missed."

"Well, there was the second Gigantomachy," Chiron said. "But that leads perfectly into the story of that." He pointed to the giant statue of Athena.

"The Athena Parthenos," he continued. "It was brought here to stop the members of the Roman camp, Camp Jupiter, from attacking us. It created an allyship amongst the camps and together we fought and defeated Gaea and her forces." I turned to my parents.

"Were we somewhere for this fight as well?" I asked, starting to question everything that I had known over the years.

"Canada," my mom replied. "Again with Chiron's guidance."

"Anything else that I missed?" I asked, jokingly.

"There was a six month period where Apollo was a mortal, as I mentioned earlier," Chiron replied. "But most of those battles happened at Camp Jupiter on the West Coast."

"Wait," I said, finally processing all the information that had just been thrown at me. "You said there was another camp, Camp Jupiter?"

"Yes, where the children of the Roman gods live."

"Where is it on the West Coast?"

"San Francisco, near Mount Tamalpais. For the longest time, the Roman and Greek camps had no contact with each other as the last time they had interacted before we fought Gaea was during the American Civil War."

"The American Civil War? What did demigods have to do with that?"

"There was another war at that time, one between Roman and Greek demigods. Due to the death tolls on both sides, the gods separated the two sects and wove the Mist so thick between us that neither knew of the other's existence. Well of course the gods and a few others did."

"That's crazy," I said. We had started walking back to the Big House, but the conversation had completely entranced me.

"So demigods have been around since the ancient times?"

"Oh yes," Chiron replied. "Just like how the gods have taken residence atop the Empire State Building, demigods have been present at every time in history."

"Wait, atop the Empire State Building?"

"Yes. The gods have moved throughout time, depending on where the concentration of worldly power has been. Greece, Rome, England, and now America."

"Interesting," I replied. "I, obviously, before today, that the Ancient Greek ways had been lost to time and that their deities would've faded to history. But it is very interesting to learn about all the ways that demigods have been affecting and working in our world." We arrived back at the Big House, where Chiron told me that my parents would have to leave soon.

"How are they going to get back?" I asked. "Our car was kind of totaled."

"I had a few pegasi knock a tree over and move your car so that it looks like it was split in half," Chiron replied. "The Mist is stronger here, so whoever comes to pick you two up shouldn't notice anything off."

"The Mist?" I asked. "What is that?"

"It's a kind of force that blurs what mortals truly see," my mom replied. "It prevents them from seeing things like monsters, gods, Titans, and the like."

"Does it affect you two?" I asked my parents.

"No," my dad replied. "When the gods called us before them, they cleared our eyes of the Mist, allowing us to see everything around us."

"Is it supposed to affect gods or whatever I am?" I asked.

"It wouldn't," my mom replied. "But the gods wove it deep in you so that it would affect you like a regular mortal and keep you safe. The weaving was only to disappear when you were claimed."

"They really took out all the stops to keep me hidden," I said.

"Athena and Poseidon have a lot of pull amongst the twelve major Olympians," Chiron replied. "It's not surprising that they were able to orchestrate this."

"But if they said they would only claim me when they saw an opportunity for me to prove myself," I asked. "Why would they claim me now?"

"There must be something brewing that only the gods can currently see," Chiron answered. "They must be preparing us for the future, by gifting us a future hero."


	3. Is This how Siblings Interact?

Later that night, I arrived at the dining pavilion. I pretended I didn't notice, but I could see most everyone's eyes, at some point, finding their way to me. I sat down next to Chiron, as I had yet to decide what cabin I was going to live in for the time being. We raised our goblets and soon after wood nymphs came around carrying plates of all types of food. I grabbed an assortment of food, though I doubted that I would eat it all. I followed Chiron to the fire at the center and offered some of my food to the gods.

_"_ Please show me why I'm here," I asked as I burned my offering. I returned to the table next to Chiron and dug in. The pavilion was filled with conversation and I looked around to see the array of campers.

"You know that you are supposed to sit with your cabin, right?" a man said. I looked over at him.

"I really don't know if I belong with them though," I said. "I mean Chiron made it very clear that I am just a god inhabiting a mortal's body. I'm not really like them."

"You know I would have never guessed that a god would've wanted to become mortal," he said. "I mean when Zeus did it to my brother, I was almost in tears. I couldn't believe that he would find a punishment worse than dealing with you lot."

"Wait, you said 'your brother,'" I realized. "Zeus turned Apollo mortal and I can tell you're not Artemis."

"I'm Dionysus," he replied, rolling his eyes as if it wasn't obvious.

"Well it's nice to meet you, Dionysus," I replied. "I'm Josh Phillips."

"Nice to meet you, Justin," he replied. I looked at him, a little taken aback.

The man didn't seem like he wanted to talk to me so I returned to my food, though, what he said was going through my mind. I needed to figure out where I was going to sleep. I really liked the Poseidon cabin as it was really quiet and calm. The emptiness and atmosphere reminded me of a day at the beach, with the waves lulling me to sleep. However, on the other side of the spectrum, I felt that living in the Athena cabin would help me forge a better connection to the camp and help me befriend the other campers. I wish that I had just one godly parent so that my choice was set in stone. I couldn't decide between the two and the more that I analyzed the positives and negatives of each option the harder the decision became. This was like deciding where I was going to college all over again.

"Don't worry about my dad," a kid next to me said. I turned to him. I hadn't taken notice of him when I sat down, but now that I could get a good look at him I could see the resemblance between the two. Both had black, so dark it could be considered purple. However, this kid seemed to be more lean and toned when compared to his dad's plumper form. This kid's eyes were so shocking. They were violet, like purple-violet.

"Hi," he continued. "I'm Daniel." I smiled and nodded.

"Josh," I replied.

"So you're the one that my dad was talking about," he said, looking me over more. "The god in a mortal body."

"Yup, the one person in this camp that is different from everyone."

"Everyone here is different from each other. Even if a lot of us share a parent, none of us are truly the same."

"You're quite the philosopher," I joked.

"I think that it's more madness," he replied, laughing. we continued to joke for the rest of the dining. As everyone was finishing up eating, Dionysus stood up.

"Quiet down," he said. "Tomorrow we have Capture the Flag! Currently, the Nike cabin holds the laurels." A cheer erupted from the crowd.

"The rest of you lot need to figure out how to dethrone them or we may have another Hunters of Artemis situation on our hands," he continued. "We also have a new camper: Justin Phylos!" Chiron nudged the god and whispered in his ear.

"Um, Josh Phillips," he said. "Yay and all that stuff. Now get going! Go on to the singing." The campers all cheered and we moved to the amphitheater for what Daniel told me was the nightly sing-along. led by the Apollo cabin. We dined on s'mores and sang songs about seeming everything under the sun. Another conch horn sounded and everyone else headed back to their cabins. A blonde boy with gray eyes motioned for me to come with him. I followed him to the Athena cabin.

"So I heard that you were the new Athena-born," he started.

"Something like that," I said, still unsure how to bring up my godly parentage.

"This bunk can be yours," he continued. "We often pull all-nighters here, but today we are turning in early because of Capture the Flag tomorrow."

"Yeah," I said. "What is that here? Like I've played it at school before, but I assume that here there are different rules."

"It's basically the same thing as mortal Capture the Flag," he replied. "But we get to use our weapons." I looked at him a bit shocked. He could read the expression on my face.

"Oh don't worry, we aren't allowed to kill or maim each other." I sighed, happy that my first week at the camp wasn't going to result in my death.

"Malcolm," a voice said behind the boy. "Everyone's almost ready." The boy nodded.

"Alright let's get to bed," he said. "We need to be rested for tomorrow." I moved to the bunk that Malcolm had pointed to and turned in for the night. The Athena cabin was looking like it was the place to be. I felt like I was welcome by someone, not just looked at for being different.

**Ψ**

I didn't wake up the next morning, I was more awoken. Most of the Athena cabin must've been morning people as they were already starting to work on things far before the first time block of my schedule. I got out of the bunk and started stretching before I began my day. I looked at the array of Athena kids already working hard at the workbenches or with their noses in a book. I completed my stretching and prepared for breakfast. I showered and brushed my teeth in the bathroom and tried my best to fix my hair in the mirror. I headed to the dining pavilion with the rest of the Athena cabin and sat with them at the sixth table. After we had burned our offerings to the gods was when the questions started rolling in.

"You don't look like a normal child of Athena," Malcolm said. I had noticed that everyone at the table had the same blonde hair and gray eyes that he did. It took no genius to tell that I stood out. My honey brown hair wasn't too much darker than theirs, but there definitely were a few shades of difference. I also didn't possess their storm gray eyes; mine were hazel with light streaks of seafoam green.

"Well," I replied. "I'm not just the child of Athena." The rest of the table started to quiet down. They were obviously intrigued.

"Well, obviously," Malcolm replied. "Athena is only one-half of our parents too. But we all seem to have some similar features."

"Yeah, but where your dads were mortal. Mine was Poseidon." I could hear a kid at the end of the table drop their silverware.

"Poseidon?!" Malcolm said, stopping mid-chew. The rest of my half-siblings started looking more closely at me.

"Now that you mention it," he said, analyzing me. "You do look a little like Percy."

"Percy?" I asked. The only person I could think of by that name was the Greek hero Perseus.

"Percy Jackson," one of my half-siblings said. "He's a son of Poseidon, who is dating the former counselor for our cabin, Annabeth. But you're a lot shorter than he is." I scoffed. I was by no means short, so this Percy guy must've been a giant.

"He's not that much shorter," another of my half-siblings said. "Only like three or four inches."

"We should've known that you weren't all Athena," Malcolm said. "You're way too tan. We spend all day inside. You look like you just got back from a day on the beach." I was surprised by how easily they had taken the news. I knew how much Athena and Poseidon hated each other, so the news that the two rivals had created a child should've made a few of them think. They, however, didn't really seem to care all that much.

"If Annabeth is the former counselor," I asked. "Who is the current one?"

"You're looking at him," Malcolm said. "I took over after Percy and Annabeth moved to Camp Jupiter to go to New Rome University."

"New Rome University?"

"Yeah. It's a university at our sister camp. Supposedly, some Greek demigods can go there, but only Percy and Annabeth have been invited." I nodded, wondering if I could've gone to New Rome University. It probably would be safer than NYU as it was directly at a camp, like this one.

"You're not planning on leaving, are you?" a kid seated a few spots down from me asked.

"No," I replied, laughing a bit. "I was just thinking about whether it would be safer for me to go to college there."

"Wait," Malcolm asked. "How old are you?"

"I turned eighteen in May," I replied.

"And the gods just claimed you?" he asked. The kids around us had started to murmur, something was obviously wrong.

"So they broke their promise to Percy," I heard one kid say.

"But they swore on the River Styx," another said.

"What's going on?" I asked Malcolm, obviously confused.

"A few years ago, Percy made an oath on the River Styx that they would claim their children by the age of thirteen," Malcolm explained. "So if you were just claimed at the age of eighteen that means that the gods broke their promise." Chiron must've heard the commotion because he had made his way over to our table.

"The gods made a promise to Josh's mortal parents far before they had made their promise to Percy," Chiron revealed. "And because their oath to his parents wasn't made on the River Styx, it was not broken when the gods swore to claim their children by the age of thirteen."

"What does it mean to swear on the River Styx?" I asked. I had known about the river, but I hadn't heard anything about people swearing on it.

"To swear on the River Styx is the strongest oath one can make," Malcolm said. "It's unwise to break it because an oath made on the River Styx leads to the Fates watching you closely. Breaking it also is said to lead to horrible things in your life and not like tripping and falling in front of a group of people, bad."

"More like causing death to those around you," Chiron added. "Or exile from the gods, etc."

"So are you planning on staying in the Athena cabin?" the kid next to me asking, obviously trying to change the subject.

"I probably will," I replied. "I might sleep in the Poseidon cabin, every once in a while, when I want some time to myself."

"What, you don't wanna hang out with your half-siblings?" Malcolm joked.

"I just think that sometimes," I confessed. "We aren't always going to see eye-to-eye. Plus you all seem to be morning people." We all laughed and continued to finish our food. The allotted time for breakfast passed and we each headed to the first activity on our schedules. I had Ancient Greek with the rest of the Athena cabin. I was genuinely excited as I was always up to learn a new language. I just hoped that my fluency in French and Spanish would provide me with some help, though I doubted it. The rest of my activities in the morning didn't really pique my interest, though some of my afternoon activities looked to be interesting. I sat down at the Athena table, waiting for lunch to start. Slowly the last of the campers rolled in and lunch was served. After offering some of our food to the gods, Malcolm asked, "So how were your morning activities?"

"Ancient Greek was fun," I replied. "Greek mythology was ok, but it felt a little weird as I had already taken a bunch of classes on the subject in mortal school. I also helped to clean the stables, which was different. My last activity was sword skills, which I had some trouble with. I just didn't like how a sword felt in my hands." Malcolm nodded, seemingly having dealt with this a few times.

"What do you have after this?" he asked. I told him my post-lunch schedule of tracking skills, laundry, though I had just arrived and had none and free time.

"What are you going to do for free time?" Malcolm asked.

"What is there to do?" I asked. Chiron hadn't told me what to do during that block and I had no idea what I could do or what was allowed.

"Well, there's doing the climbing wall with the satyrs," one of my half-siblings said. "There's also canoe racing. Arts and crafts with the Hephaestus cabin. Those are the most common things campers do during free time, but I think that you can really just do whatever. If you want to pick more strawberries in the fields you can. If you want to get more archery training, you can go to the archery range. Or if you want to get in some more combat, you can always go to the combat arena." I looked at the climbing wall in the distance.

"Thinking about doing the climbing wall?" Malcolm asked. I shrugged.

"I'm not sure," I replied. "I'm not the best with heights."

"I mean you are the child of Poseidon," a kid next to me said. "It's like against your nature to go into the sky."

"What?" I asked. "What does that mean?"

"Each of the Big Three gods: Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades," Malcolm explained. "Have their own domain and rarely, their children will cross into each other's. At least, that's how it was for the longest time, but now that those gods are mostly all on good terms, you should be fine. Along with the fact that you are also the child of one of Zeus's kids, Athena. He probably wouldn't shoot down someone who would be considered his grandchild."

"I actually never thought of it like that," I said, starting to piece things together. My parents and I rarely flew, only doing so when it was absolutely necessary. My parents had marketed it as them just loving the drive and taking road trips. You know the whole "the journey is half the fun" type of mentality. We continued talking about our days so far and slowly made our way to our next activities. Tracking skills was surprisingly intriguing. I guess that before this week, I had no use in knowing how to find specific animals based on what they left behind. The activity also wasn't purely about normal animals, but monsters too. I started to learn how to tell if a monster was nearby based on certain details from my surroundings. I guess that learning these skills was to be expected as the whole purpose of the camp was to prepare a demigod for possibly living in the real world. Sooner than I had wished, the activity's timeslot ended and I headed back to the Athena cabin to do the zero laundry I had. I just sat in my bunk, looking at a book I had pulled from the library's shelf. Though a lot of the books throughout the cabin's library were about architecture or design, the one I had chosen was about the downfall of the Roman Empire. The book approached the period from what seemed to be a first-hand point of view. Knowing what I knew now made the book all the more interesting. The talk of the gods and demigods held more weight as I knew that they were all real, not just some relics of the past. I was nose deep in the book, not even noticing the passage of time.

"Josh," I heard someone say. I looked up to find Malcolm. I smiled at him, wondering what he could've wanted me for.

"I'm heading to the climbing wall if you wanna come," he continued. I mulled over the activity and closed my book. I jumped off my top bunk and walked with Malcolm to the climbing wall.

**Ψ**

I looked up at the climbing wall, which was even taller up this close. I gulped, trying to shake my nerves. I felt Malcolm's hand on my back. I looked at him, nodding. The satyr signalled for us to start climbing. Even though we had just started, Malcolm was somehow already ahead of me. I tried to catch up to him, but the array of falling rocks was making it hard for me to focus on the climbing alone. I looked up trying to see when the next wave of rocks was going to fall. I turned around trying to see if the other wall was showing any signs of movement. I was already a quarter of the way up and I really didn't want to get crushed today. I started to notice a pattern to the falling rocks, allowing me to move up the wall with more ease. Malcolm was still quite a bit ahead of me, though I assumed that he had run the wall a hundred times. I was now about three-fourths of the way up. Another wave of rocks shot downwards, surprising me as this one wasn't on the same schedule as the rest. I looked up again, trying to figure out what had changed. Malcolm had made his way to the top, which I guess had signalled that they had to make the climb harder.

"You all have thirty seconds to make it to the top!" a satyr said, passing me with ease. I ignored the pain in my hands and pushed forward, making it to the top, just before the walls clashed together. Malcolm pulled me into a hug.

"Nice work," he said. "You don't see too many first timers making it to the top." I tried to catch my breath.

"How … did … you," I said, still trying to breathe, "climb … so fast?" He chuckled.

"I've been here a whole hell of a lot longer than you," he replied. "And I've gotten my own tricks to climb this baby." The walls slowly moved apart, allowing the satyrs to climb down and retrieve anyone caught. We slowly made our way down the wall. When all of our fellow climbers had gotten down, the second group got ready to start the climb. I sat down on the grass next to Malcolm, watching the second group climb.

"See it wasn't that bad," Malcolm said.

"It probably would've been worse if I looked down," I replied. We both laughed.

"Yeah," he replied. "I wouldn't recommend doing that. Plus your mind was probably too busy trying to figure out a way to catch me, slow-poke." I punched his shoulder.

"I wasn't  _ that _ far behind you. Stop pretending like I was stuck at the start." We continued to joke for the remainder of the free time, completely foregoing another run of the climbing wall. Soon enough, the conch horn signifying dinner sounded and we made our way to the dining pavilion.


	4. The Trees are Alive and They Send Me Away

Tonight, there were burgers on the menu. I grabbed a few, missing the fast food that I often got with my friends after school. We had just finished eating, when a conch horn sounded. Everyone stood up at their tables, as Malcolm and two of our half-siblings brought in a gray silk banner with the symbol of an owl atop an olive tree on it. From the other side of the pavilion, another group of three brought in another silk banner. However, this one was gold with the symbol of a laurel wreath on it.

"That's the Nike cabin," one of my half-siblings revealed. "They've only lost a few Capture the Flag games since they were claimed."

"Are they her only children?" I asked, seeing only a few other kids at the Nike cabin's table.

"Yeah," my half-sibling replied. "Nike doesn't have a lot of kids, but I think that is just because her kids are just starting to get claimed."

"Were a lot of kids not claimed before?" I asked, as the raucous was dying down.

"Malcolm told you about the oath that Percy made with the gods." I nodded, remembering what he said at lunch.

"Well, since he made the gods promise to claim their kids, we had to build more cabins for them. Those cabins being the Nike, Nemesis, Iris, Hypnos cabins, etc. But before the gods were held to that oath, a lot of demigods were left unclaimed and were just housed in the Hermes cabin. So there were a lot of kids, who might've been children of Nike, but weren't claimed. So far those kids over there are the only children of Nike that have been claimed and have found their way to the camp, but there are probably more out there." I nodded, starting to understand all the events that happened before I had gotten here and what had changed since that Percy Jackson person had arrived. Chiron told us the rules, which helped me to figure out how this was going to be different from the Capture the Flag I had played in middle school. After telling us all the rules, Chiron spread his hands and the tables were suddenly covered in equipment.

"Woah," I said, shocked at what seemed to be the armory on the dining tables. I started looking at the breastplates, helmets, and all the other gear across the dining pavilion. I picked up a helmet, the red plume moving as I did.

"We're the red team," Malcolm said. "We've also got the Apollo cabin, so you'll be with them as a part of the archery squad."

"Who are we up against?" I asked.

"Well, the blue team doesn't really have an archery squad like we do, but the ones that will probably be the most trouble are the Ares cabin, obviously, Nico, the lone member of the Hades Cabin, and the Hephaestus and Hecate cabins." We started to move towards the forest. The red team was in the north woods, while the blue team headed south. Malcolm signalled me to talk to a blonde boy who was talking to the rest of the archers. I started to approach, but the boy noticed me before I could say anything.

"Hi," he said, outstretching his hand. "I'm Will Solace, son of Apollo." I shook his hand, introducing myself.

"Josh Phillips, child of Poseidon and Athena," I said. A few of the kids near us murmured, but it was something that I was used to when it came to introducing myself. I tied my hair in a low ponytail and listened to what Will was saying to the rest of the archers.

"Alright," he said. "We are patrolling on our side of the river. Stay hidden and fire at anyone who doesn't have a red plume. Kayla and Darren are in charge, half of you all will go one or the other. I will be patrolling everywhere as our team's healer." Most of the kids split off, though I hung back with Will.

"I thought that Chiron was serving as the battlefield medic?" I asked.

"Yeah, but he helps both teams," Will replied. "I just help ours." We both laughed.

"You'll be with Kayla," he continued. A conch horn sounded, signalling that the game had started. I moved to the girl with ginger hair, my bow ready.

"The  _ Anagennisi _ !" she said, shocked. "I didn't know that it had revealed itself to someone." I looked at the ash black bow in my left hand.

"I guess that you have to be good," she continued. I shrugged, not really knowing how to respond. She was a child of Apollo. They were all children of Apollo and I highly doubted that my years of archery training was going to measure up to their godly parentage and inherent skill.

"i'm probably not as good as you all," I replied. "But don't worry I'm not going to shoot any of you in the foot." We started to move through the forest, our eyes peeled for anyone from the blue team. All of our bows were drawn, ready to let a volley of arrows fly at a moment's notice. We patrolled the river bank, trying our best to stay hidden amongst the trees and foliage. I saw a rustling across the river, signalling to the nearest Apollo camper to be ready to fire. The brush started to move more until it all just shot out towards us!

"Get away from any plants!" Kayla said. "It's Demeter!" I looked around seeing all the foliage and trees start to bend and move towards us.

"What is going on?" I asked, trying to dodge everything.

"Children of Demeter can control plants," one of the Apollo campers said. We all were moving in different directions, the plants breaking up our big group. I found myself atop a pile of rocks, where the plants couldn't seem to get to me. I nocked an arrow and spun around, trying to find any signs of an enemy camper. I saw a red plume run towards me.

"Ares kids heading this way," they said. I nodded and moved with them. We met up with a group of the Apollo kids, readying to fight the children of the war god. A group of burly kids emerged into the clearing, weapons drawn. The Apollo campers and I let our arrows fly. Most of our arrows bounced harmlessly off our opponent's breastplates. They rushed towards us, knowing that most of us were better at long range. The few campers with us that weren't archers rushed to meet the Ares kids. As none of them were Ares born, they were really no match for the war god's children. We kept firing arrows, trying to keep the Ares campers off balance. The Ares born were starting to get too close for comfort.

"You're the newbie, right," one of the Ares campers said, pointing his sword at me. He leapt at me, connecting his blade with my bow.

"The god in a mortal's body," he continued. "Well, I guess I understand why Poseidon and Athena gave you up. You aren't worth godhood." He was trying to rile me up and it was working. I used his position to leverage myself under him. To him it probably looked like he was forcing me down, but I was really getting him in the right position. I twisted my body, letting gravity do the rest. The boy fell face first to the ground. I nocked an arrow, aiming it straight for his head. He turned to face me and smiled. I looked around, seeing that the Ares campers had us surrounded.

I looked at the few conscious Apollo campers near me. There wasn't anything that we could really do while they were so close.

Suddenly there was a raucous in the trees, something was coming. A group of red plumed campers burst through the trees. Malcolm had the Nike banner in his hands, with a group of fellow Athena-borns with him. The creek was only just a little bit past us and should Malcolm be able to cross it, we would win. I turned to the nearest Ares-born and shot my arrow. The raucous had distracted the Ares campers, allowing each of Apollo campers to nock an arrow without notice. They let their arrows fly as well hitting the Ares campers while they were occupied. My half-siblings charged at the Ares campers around us, signalling for us to guard Malcolm as he made his way to the creek. We moved around Malcolm as he snuck through the commotion. Just as we left the clearing, a group of blue plumed campers joined the fight, obviously the ones who had been chasing Malcolm and my other half-siblings in an attempt to regain their flag.

We kept moving, starting to see the bank of the creek. Before we could make it any closer blue plumed campers appeared at our sides, surrounding us. I aimed two arrows at the campers, firing, and pinning them to the trees. The Apollo campers were going the same, locking or slowing the campers down. One of the blue plumed campers lunged towards me the point of their sword directly at me. I used my bow to twist the blade out of their hands. I grappled their wrist, using their motion to flip them over my shoulder and straight into a tree. I looked up, seeing Malcolm cross the creek. Cheers erupted from the forest as the banner Malcolm held changed from gold with a laurel wreath to gray with a barn owl and olive tree. Chiron moved into plain view and blew the conch horn. We moved to Malcolm as everyone with a red plume started to lift him onto their shoulders. We moved to the armory, depositing our breastplates and helmets. After everything had been put away, we headed to the amphitheatre for the nightly sing-along. Malcolm pulled me aside as we were starting the second song of the night.

"I heard Sherman Yang said some shit about you during the game," he said. "You good?" I looked at him and smirked.

"It's going to take more than his single syllable insults to phase me," I said. He laughed.

"Seriously, though, if he gets to you," Malcolm replied. "Let me know and I'll talk to him." We headed back to the amphitheatre, jumping into the song mid-way through. The sing-along went by quickly and soon we headed back to the Athena cabin and prepped to go to bed. 

**Ψ**

I woke up to Malcolm shaking me awake.

"C'mon," he said. "Chiron asked for you." I tried to shake the grogginess from my mind, trying to understand what he was saying. I followed Malcolm to the Big House, still trying to fully wake up. We entered the Rec Room, where a bunch of people were seated around a ping-pong table. I perked up, seeing a woman that I hadn't ever seen around the camp.

"Good," Chiron said. "Now we can get started."—he turned to the woman—"Demeter would you like to inform everyone?" She nodded, turning to address us.

"The goddess Iris has gone missing," she revealed. "We assumed that she was off at her shop, giving advice to demigods, but when Apollo went to check, the shop was closed. He was told that it had been closed for almost a week."

"It's why I haven't been able to contact the gods via Iris-message," Chiron said.

"So we are sending people on a quest?" a boy with a shaved head asked.

"We will be," Chiron answered. "But none of Iris's children will be going." The boy with the shaved head slammed his hand down on the ping-pong table.

"What?!" he yelled. The girl next to him held him back. She was one of the girls that had brought in the Nike banner last night. I looked at Chiron and the goddess. They were looking at each other, obviously knowing that this would be the reaction.

"Butch," Chiron explained. "The children of Iris won't be on the quest as Zeus is sending them out as a separate team." The boy calmed down, waiting for Chiron to say more.

"Zeus wants the children of Iris, who are here, to head to Greece," he continued. "He wonders if something or someone called Iris to the gods' original home in a preemptive attempt to sever their communication with the camps."

"When do we leave?" he asked, starting to get excited.

"Now," Demeter said. "Gather your siblings and pegasi and head to Greece."

"And if she isn't there?" Malcolm asked. 

"Well that's where the quest comes in," Chiron said. "Josh will be the leader of the quest." I looked at him in shock.

"What?" I asked. "I've been here for like two days. I don't even know what a quest is."

"We have a prophecy?" the other girl from the Nike cabin asked.

"Yes," Chiron said. He recited the prophecy he was given.

_ The Bane of Olympus is at hand, _

_ A Forgotten Son Not Known to Man, _

_ A Daughter of Fire and a Son of Wine, _

_ Both set off with one deemed Divine, _

_ Children of Knowledge fight race to race, _

_ And one shall be beaten at the Titan's base. _

I looked around to the counselors, all of whom had their eyes on me. The silence was deafening as the prophecy essentially said that one member would die.

"We're sending another quest to Mount Tam?" Malcolm asked. "You all remember how the last one went." The counselors' faces sunk in sadness as if the place had more meaning.

"What happened?" I asked.

"The last time that we sent a quest to Mount Tamalpais," Chiron revealed. "Two members of the quest died. We sent five, two Hunters of Artemis and three campers. Only the campers returned."

"I'm going," Malcolm said. "I don't care what you all have to say."

"Malcolm," another kid around the ping-pong table said. "You have been here probably the longest out of all of us counselors. You know that a four person quest group isn't wise."

"Josh isn't experienced enough to lead a quest," he said. "Plus the line about children of knowledge, that has to be about both me and Josh."

"Malcolm you know that we must follow the rule of three," Chiron said. "We won't send more than three campers."

"Then send me instead of Josh," Malcolm said. "You all know that he is too inexperienced to take on a quest." While I didn't want to admit it, Malcolm was right. I had no experience on quests, let alone leading one, and I had barely a day of training under my belt. I really wasn't prepared to take on the world of monsters.

"Malcolm's right," I said. "I have no experience and wouldn't be able to properly lead this quest. He should take it up as the leader."

"You, Josh, are the only member of this camp 'deemed divine'," Demeter said. "Your parents have claimed you for this reason." I realized that the gods had answered the question I posed the first night I was here:  _ Please show me why I'm here _ . This quest was what Poseidon and Athena were going to use to show me off.

"Then we don't have a choice," I said, turning to Malcolm. He prepared a retort, but Chiron shushed him. We all could hear the thunder outside and I knew that Malcolm's and my distrust of the gods had angered them.

"Who do you suggest that I bring with me?" I asked Chiron. "The prophecy calls for a daughter of fire and son of wine."

"So one of my kids," Mr. D said. "Personally, I would suggest Daniel as Pollux has duties here at camp." A plump blond boy nodded in agreement, cementing one of my teammates.

"A daughter of fire could mean Kayla?" Will said.

"But it could also mean a daughter of Hephaestus," Chiron said.

"I would think it would more likely be a daughter of Hephaestus," Demeter said. "The boy, Leo Valdez, was a son of Hephaestus who was able to control fire."

"There are only a few daughters of Hephaestus," Chiron said. "Nyssa, Heloise, Kiera…"

"I'll bring Kiera," I said. "Aside from my half-siblings, I know her the best."

"Gather them," Chiron said. "You will set off after lunch." I nodded.

"This meeting is dismissed," Chiron continued. "Butch gather the rest of the Iris cabin and report to Olympus." 

**Author's Note:**

> If you have any suggestions or edits, please leave them in the comments! Thank you so much for reading my work!


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